The Five
by nicola de lenfent
Summary: A team of five fraught with secrets, mistrust and manipulation sets out to find the cure and kill Silas. Led by Bonnie Bennett, a ticking time bomb of expression who is controlled by the one member who does not want Silas dead, the team must overcome challenges, battles, lust and love to complete their mission and save the world as they know it. Kennett/Stefonnie.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a rewrite of something I posted a week ago. Decided it needed another go.**

**One.**

**Bonnie Bennett.**

_No one can get to the cure if you're too dead to find it._

His words bounced back and forth between the walls of Bonnie's mind the entire way to the Gilbert house. Her heart was pounding as she sped there, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel to the tune of his voice. The fear she saw in his eyes then haunted her. Not because she worried for him, or because she thought him particularly immune to fear. But because she recognized it. She recognized that fear because she owned it – hell, sometimes she felt like she invented it. The fear that comes with the realization that your world is about to end, and you're too caught up in a tangle of schemes and lies to do anything about it.

It was like the Gilbert device all over again.

Except, this time, Bonnie _was_ the device. And since she couldn't be de-spelled, she would have to be killed.

And for some reason, she felt _relief_.

Everyone else seemed to think Bonnie was an idiot. That she couldn't do anything – that they could do it _better_ than her. From her absentee vampire mother to her suddenly present father – they must all think she was some kind of damn _idiot_ if they, of all people, thought they knew better. Knew Mystic Falls better – the town they had both abandoned. Knew _her_ better, the daughter they had well, _abandoned._

Then there was Damon Salvatore, who thought he could play her. She let him think it was the ghost (ha) of feelings she had left for Jeremy that made her help keep him from killing his sister. She pretended to be ignorant of the obvious methods he would end up using to get Jeremy to complete the hunter's mark.

Atticus Shane thought he could manipulate her. And for a while, maybe, he could. She let him hypnotize her. She let him feed her that witch's brew. But magic from a source other than her bloodline – the very line that Esther _had_ to channel? He must think she was a fool to not know that _something_ was up.

But she went along with it. Because she needed the power. And, because she liked it.

Besides, witches who lose their powers _get left out of the important conversations_.

So, all in all, Kol's _fear_ was kind of a relief. Because, for him to feel such fear at the prospect of what Bonnie _could do_ meant Bonnie could at least do something. Bonnie at least had some power.

And, most importantly, it meant someone, finally, was being honest with her.

It made her want to do stupid things. Like, be honest with him, too.

When he had pinned her against that locker, desperate to keep them from finding the cure, Bonnie was on high alert. Call it spidey senses, or women's intuition – whatever it was, she looked in those crazy eyes and saw a kindred spirit.

Bonnie could practically feel the supernatural energy in the house as she pulled up. She threw the Gilbert's door open just as Elena threw Kol off of Jeremy. She could see it happen in her mind, before it did. The white oak stake practically glimmered from its place inside his jacket.

"Stop!" Bonnie yelled suddenly, making the newbie vampire and hunter pause in their tracks. She extended her hand towards them, and the white oak stake flew into her grasp. In the second it took Kol to blink at her, Elena and Jeremy had run over to the witch. Bonnie adjusted her stance so they stood behind her.

"Get out," Bonnie said, her eyes on Kol, but her voice directed at her friends.

"Bonnie," Jeremy breathed, hunched over and leaning on his sister, a pained expression on his face.

Elena's brows were knit together as she supported her brother's weight easily as a vampire. "Jeremy has to kill him," she said calmly. Eerily calmly.

"Now," Bonnie said, her eyes still on Kol. In the space of their hesitation, Kol lunged at them, eyes black and face wrinkled with veins. They both flinched as he slammed into an invisible wall.

He growled, backed up and lunged again. He slammed his fist against it. He glared at the witch, who had not even trembled as he pushed against the barrier that separated them. With another frustrated scream, he lunged again and managed to have himself pushed back five feet into the kitchen, against the counter.

"Go," Bonnie told them again. "I'll finish this."

"Jeremy has to kill him to complete the mark!" Elena yelled again, reaching for the stake. Bonnie tossed it easily to her other hand. She reached for it again and Bonnie shot her a silencing look.

"Do you think I can hold him forever?" Bonnie's voice was low, but her tone harsh. The photo frames on the walls in the kitchen started to pop and shatter.

"Jeremy has to do it," Elena said again, though her shoulders were beginning to fold.

"And when Klaus finds out?" Bonnie countered. She watched as the Original unfurled to his usual height, hand gripping the edge of the counter. His eyes were still dark, but the veins were beginning to retreat and melt into his handsome face. His jaw was hard. He said nothing.

"It'll be too late," Elena said.

"What was Kol going to do to you?" Bonnie said, turning her head and directing her voice to the man behind her.

"Cut off my arms," Jeremy got out.

Bonnie scoffed.

"He compelled Damon to kill Jeremy," Elena reminded her.

"Damon doesn't need to be compelled to kill Jeremy," Bonnie returned sweetly. Before her friend could interrupt, Bonnie pushed forward: "Elena, think about this. When Klaus finds out that you killed his brother, you think your blood is going to keep him from killing yours?"

"Klaus wouldn't kill another hunter," Elena dismissed him.

"He could cut off his arms," Bonnie said. "Compel Damon to do it. Compel Stefan to do it. Compel _you_ to do it."

Elena's mouth snapped shut.

"What do you want to do, Jeremy?" Bonnie asked.

Jeremy's lips twitched. _What do you want to do?_ Bonnie was the only one that ever bothered to ask what he wanted. Maybe, because he was the only one who still bothered to ask what she wanted.

So he did.

"What do you want me to do, Bon?"

Bonnie let out a pent up sigh, her face softening. She watched as Kol crossed his arms, leaning back on the kitchen counter like he was bored.

"I want you to be safe," Bonnie said, turning to face him. "And to do what you think is best."

She placed the white oak stake in his hands and watched his fingers curl longingly around it. For a moment, she thought he might use it as his jaw ticked and his grip tightened. But then he looked at her. He scanned her green eyes with his brown ones. He let himself drift to that calm, happy, blissful place that being around Bonnie Bennett took him. Then he let the stake go, and stepped back.

"I don't want to die," Jeremy admitted. He turned to his sister sheepishly, "I'm sorry, Elena, but once we find the cure there's no reason for Klaus to keep me alive."

Elena's face contorted like she didn't understand.

Bonnie let her eyes shift to Kol's for a moment before turning back to Jeremy. Part of her was sad at what she saw there – acceptance, a knowing that Elena never could (and never would) understand what it meant to be well, _killable_. The purpose of his existence was tied to his utility. He couldn't further jeopardize that by putting himself on the chopping block.

Besides, they would find the cure. _Another way_.

"But Damon's compelled," Elena insisted. "Kol has to die to break the compulsion."

"True," Kol decided to chip in, eyes scanning the rest of the house before falling back on Jeremy. "In your sister's eyes," he offered a tight, joyless smile, "It's your life or mine."

"For fucking Damon?" Bonnie couldn't help but blurt out. The flower vase in the corner burst into shards of glass. "Jeremy, _go_."

"But, Bonnie-"

"If you want Damon to not kill Jeremy, then kill Damon!" Bonnie snapped at her friend.

_Give me a stake. I'll kill Damon right now_.

Jeremy smirked.

Elena was aghast.

"Do you think," Bonnie said, blood starting to trickle from her nose, "I can hold this barrier forever?"

Kol walked up to the barrier, demanding Bonnie's attention, even as Elena grabbed Bonnie's free hand to reason with her. He stood just before them, eyes meeting Bonnie's.

"Come on, Elena," Jeremy said gruffly, tugging his sister forward. As he pushed her out of the house, he turned to watch Bonnie, standing face to face with the Original vampire. As if she sensed him staring, she turned to offer him a tentative smile.

"Thank you, Bonnie," Jeremy said.

Bonnie nodded, and that familiar warm feeling started to rush through her chest. She watched his back retreat. She waited until she could no longer hear their bickering. Mentally, she flipped all the locks on the doors and sealed the house closed.

And when she was finally sure they were gone, she turned to Kol.

Wiped the blood from her nose with a mix of boredom and disgust.

"You were right," Kol admitted with a disappointed smile.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. She set the stake on the ground and kicked it toward him. "If they ask, you wrestled it from my hands after I put up a decent fight."

Kol grinned as he stopped it easily under his boot.

"_Thanks for saving my stupid neck, Bonnie_," she mimicked his voice before meeting his eyes. "Just don't let it happen again, Kol."

Kol grinned. "No promises, love."

"Even if you promised," she sighed, turning on her heel and dismissing him with the wave of a hand, "You'd only break it."

Kol watched her leave, about to follow, when he ran smack into the barrier. He tried again and it pushed him back.

He could practically hear her crooked smile.

"How long are you going to keep me in here?" He called out.

Bonnie shrugged in response.

"Can I at least have my iPod?"

Her sudden, dry laughter, as bright and riveting as a jumping spark, was all the music he got.

**Stefan Salvatore**

"Klaus wants to stake Kol," Stefan said, hands in pockets, rocking back on his heels. He was standing in the hallway of a high school he used to attend. Where he used to have friends, where he used to pretend to be normal. To be human. Where he was in love. And opposite him was the blonde bombshell who he used to love, in another hallway, in another life – when he was anything but normal.

Rebekah stared at him blankly. This was not the face of a woman in love. Stefan knew he had lost whatever modicum of affection she had still had for him when she awoke. Of course, he could not blame her, as she had been stuck in a coffin in the midst of an epic love had been compelled to forget. And remembering it, decades later, was more like watching an old movie, than reminiscing about a great affair. Her silence was telling.

"He tried to kill you," Stefan reminded her.

"I know," she said, her eyes averted before returning to his meaningfully. "And you and Klaus _staked _me."

"Regardless," Stefan turned from her, walking through the sea of red balloons. "We have to stop Kol if we want to find the cure. He compelled Damon to kill Jeremy, and he attacked Bonnie today."

"Sounds like he's doing us a favor," Rebekah pointed out. "That takes away their advantages, and puts us in the best position to find the cure." She shrugged. "We don't need a hunter, Atticus knows where Silas is buried."

"Except," Stefan turned on his heel to face her again. "We need a Bennett witch to wake him."

Rebekah frowned. "Surely, there are other Bennett witches…"

"The Bennett line is matrilineal. Sheila had one daughter, who had one daughter. Sheila's dead and Abby's a vampire. There's only Bonnie."

Rebekah crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed, averting her eyes. "You want me to let you stake my brother."

"It's temporary," Stefan reminded her. "It's so you can be human again."

"So your _girlfriend Elena_ can be human again." When her doe eyes hit him this time, they were filled with ridicule.

"So we can all be human," Stefan said, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. She jutted her lip out and blinked at him, as if in thought.

"The stake, Rebekah."

"You must promise," Rebekah said, "That you will do no more."

"He tried to kill you," Stefan said, incredulously.

"And how many times has Damon tried to kill you? Or someone you love?" Rebekah spat, forcing Stefan's mind back to Lexie. "He's my brother."

"I won't kill him," Stefan said through clenched teeth.

Rebekah bent, slowly, and retrieved the dagger from her boots.

"Stake him," she said softly as she placed it gently in Stefan's hands.

"Stake who?" A voice called out, bouncing through the empty school hallway.

Stefan and Rebekah exchanged a quick look before he turned towards the voice. He expected the face that belonged to that voice – sweet, righteous Bonnie Bennett. The girl he saved. But the sight that met him was, instead, stunning.

Bonnie's lips were lined in her own blood. Balloons circled and bounced around her as she stalked toward them. Her long, straight hair billowed out behind her. She wore a typical modest Bennett outfit – a cardigan over a tank top – but the way she walked made it seem, to Rebekah, that she was wearing priceless Parisian couture. She stopped at the top of the hall with her chin stuck out and her eyes simultaneously bored and demanding.

"Kol?" She crossed her arms, "Because he's not a problem anymore."

Rebekah appeared before her in a flash, pretty little fangs protruding from her mouth. "What did you do to my brother?"

"Saved his life," Bonnie said, stepping out of Rebekah's immediate reach. The blonde's lips curled and she snarled. Stefan was between them in seconds.

"Bonnie," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. His brow furrowed. "What's going on?"

Bonnie shrugged his hand off of her. "What's going on is I'm tired. I'm pissed off," she let out a huff of breath, "And I'm tired of cleaning up your messes."

Rebekah moved towards her, but Stefan's other hand was soon on her shoulder. As if he was holding them apart. As if he could.

Bonnie met Rebekah's eyes, and Stefan read something in them that chilled him. _Respect_.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Rebekah said suddenly, voicing Bonnie's calm gaze. "Like you said, we need a Bennett witch."

Bonnie laughed out loud, her amusement shaking her whole body. It faded as quickly as it came, to be replaced by a crooked smile. The dried blood that caked on her cupid's bow crumbled and fell as she swiped the corner of her hand across her face.

Stefan blinked at the young witch. "Bonnie, are you alright?"

"You're not staking Kol," Bonnie said, her eyes on Rebekah's for a second before turning to Stefan in time to see his expression harden. Her insincere smile remained, eerie and hauntingly cold.

"You don't-"

"I'll help you find the cure," Bonnie said. "That's what you want, right? Find the cure before your brothers do."

"You're exchanging your help," Stefan said slowly, "For Kol's life…?"

"Yes," Bonnie said, the smile dropping at last. Bonnie was silent for a moment, looking between the co-conspirators in turn. "You have thirty seconds to consider my offer, before I take it to your competition."

"You're sure I can't snap her pretty little neck right now?"

_You'll keep her safe. _Sheila's words echoed in Stefan's head. He stepped between them.

"We should consider her offer."

"What?" Rebekah spat the word with her whole face. Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she looked between the two of them. "I should have known you would _betray_ me…"

"I'm not," Stefan insisted, crossing his arms. He titled his head to the side. "If Bonnie helps us, we don't need Shane."

"Except he knows the location," Rebekah pointed out. "We need him or Jeremy."

"You mean, Jeremy the boy who is still madly in love with me," Bonnie interrupted, "Or Atticus Shane, whose only pawn in this game is _me_ – whose very life depends on _my_ cooperation?" The lockers flew open and closed again as heat flashed in the young witch's eyes.

"She came to us," Stefan continued, as Rebekah glared at Bonnie. "There's a reason."

Bonnie's mouth opened and shut. She pressed her lips together. She waited. Like a bomb tick tick tocking.

"Stefan," Rebekah warned him, her voice low. "You must have realized by now that your little witch friend has been dabbling in _expression_. She's not the sweet thing you once knew."

Stefan was hit with a memory of Bonnie, stunned, as she stared at a car she had set afire. Bonnie, brought to her senses by him as she stood, staring, wide-eyed and in disbelief. It was nothing like the image he saw before him. Determined. Confident. Powerful. A chill flashed up his spine like he had been shocked. Whoever was winning this race, it seemed, would have Bonnie on their side.

"What does my brother have to do with this?" Rebekah had turned back to Bonnie. "Didn't he try to kill you today?"

"We worked out our differences," Bonnie said simply.

_Silas_, Kol had admitted, _will kill us all._

"We'll help you find the cure," Bonnie said, "Because you are the lesser of two evils."

"_We_?" Stefan frowned. "Again, you and Kol?"

"We're going to kill him," Bonnie said, meeting Stefan's eyes. He scanned her face and found nothing but raw honesty. Her expression softened under his gaze, and he wondered, for a second, what she found on his.

"You don't really believe that fairytale, do you? Silas," Rebekah interrupted, "doesn't exist." She spoke her name like she was popping bubble gum: "Bonnie."

"What do you care?" Bonnie returned, turning her head lazily to the blonde. "You'll have your cure."

Rebekah's mouth snapped shut.

"She's right," Stefan said, his lips pulled into a tight line. "Silas exists, Bonnie will be there to kill him. Silas doesn't exist, we get the cure first. It's win-win."

Rebekah frowned. Her eyes narrowed on the young witch. "Kol agreed with this?"

"Kol will live in fear for the rest of his eternal life," Bonnie said, like she was repeating herself, "as long as Klaus knows the cure exists, if we don't kill Silas now."

"Unless there are no more Bennetts to wake him," Stefan reminded her. Rebekah shot him a glare but he ignored her. "Bonnie, can you trust him?"

Bonnie offered Stefan a watery smile, her head lolling back so she could meet his eyes head on.

"Trust," she said, and for a split second he saw the girl he knew – the girl who cried into his arms, who woke up high on his blood as her neck healed and gripped him and wouldn't let go – "Is a luxury we don't have."

**Atticus Shane**

Atticus Shane closed his eyes and mentally stared at the image of his wife for going on the third hour that night.

The hunter was active and alive, and _hunting_. But slowly. The tattoo would not be completed for a long time.

The Bennett witch needed him. He knew it, and though she felt powerful now, she would know it soon, too.

And as long as Bennett knew she needed him, and as long as the hunter took too long to become a map, Damon and Klaus would need _him_ to find Silas.

His safety was secured. He was pulling all the right strings. He was following her instructions.

Soon, he would see her.

He would give a body of blood (twelve bodies, even) to see her again.

To feel that smooth palm against his face.

Even in the uncomfortable, small, jail cell that lacked both privacy and dignity, he knew in his heart of hearts that the time was near. Soon, he would have his family again. Soon, it would all be over.

Bonnie Bennett might die resurrecting Silas but soon, she too, would be brought back to life for her service to him.

And all would be right again. All would be forgiven.

**Kol Mikaelson**

(_Earlier that morning._)

Bonnie Bennett was not unlike the many other witches Kol had seen over the centuries. She was beautiful. Young. Righteous. And if she was anything like the many witches he had come to know, she would eventually grudgingly accept him as a friend – almost an equal despite his undead status – if he approached her with respect.

In fact, he had planned all of that. He would tell her about the legends the witches told. He would tell her of the danger waking Silas would put them all in. He would convince her with truth, gain her trust with proof, and have her safely tucked away by his side.

When Jeremy spoke of the young witch to him in Denver, he had come to hold some respect for the young hunter. He saw in him a kindred spirit, of sorts. Jeremy, he was certain from the way Klaus chose to deal with Bonnie (and Damon and Stefan dealt with Abby), was likely the only one who treated Bonnie with the reverence a witch deserved.

Like Elijah and Klaus before them, Damon and Stefan had their heads too far up the doppelganger's ass to realize the true treasure in the presence.

Witches, Kol knew, were drops of the heavens. Descendants of the gods.

And when he saw her, finally, striding into that hallway, Kol _knew_. Bonnie Bennett was a goddess.

But in that split second between seeing her, and _seeing her_, something changed. He smelled it on her: the decay and death of good witches gone bad. That scent that haunted the dark ones, the ones that went so far against nature that parts of their selves were rotting even as they lived – was fresh and strong on her.

_It was too late_, Kol worried in the split second before he made his decision. She could not be saved. She would resurrect Silas. She must be stopped.

It wasn't until she had him on the ground, writhing in pain, that he truly realized what he was up against.

_Expression_.

More than that, the _expression_ of the final holder of the Bennett line. Descendant of a Goddess.

She could kill him with her magic.

Was it wrong that a small (but not that small) part of him was a bit turned on? Intrigued, even?

He hadn't expected her to pause, mid-stride, and turn around.

The lockers stopped clacking together. Everything calmed. The spilled and torn paper began to pile up. The balloons returned to the floor as if they had not been troubled at all. Everything was eerily silent.

He turned his head, daring not to stand yet as she approached him, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What do you mean," she said slowly, "They won't be able to find it without me? They have a hunter."

"They have many ways of finding the _location_," Kol said, watching her walk to stand in front of him. As he shifted to stand, he watched her lower herself to her heels. She tipped his chin up with her finger to force him to meet her eyes, and raised her brows as a sign for him to continue. While Bonnie found her gestures necessary to gauge whether he was lying, Kol found her every movement rather regal.

It seemed the expression had not taken her completely yet. There was but a glimmer in her eyes – but it was enough, to let him hope, that perhaps, she was everything Jeremy made her out to be.

"They need a descendant of… Ayanna," Kol hedged the truth, aware he was speaking to a very young witch still, "To find and wake Silas, who is hidden with the cure."

"Silas," Bonnie's lip curled, "Is a myth."

"I assure you, Bonnie," Kol said, "He is very real, and he must not be woken."

"How do you know?" Bonnie narrowed her eyes on his.

"I hold witches in very high regard. I have befriended a number of them over the years. And they all," he paused, raising his hand to touch hers where it still lay against his chin. She jerked and pulled away as if he burned her before he concluded: "feared Silas."

"Witches are not friends with vampires," Bonnie said, standing suddenly.

"_You_ seem to be," Kol returned with a smile that was almost a sneer.

"I believe you." Bonnie tired of the chit chat, her shoulders dropping. She took a step away from Kol, but the movement seemed to be more of tentative trust than fear or intimidation.

"You… what?" Kol blinked. Rebekah didn't believe him. Atticus Shane, who should have known better, didn't (or pretended not to), believe him. Damon and Jeremy doubted him, even after the great lengths he went to to stop them. But Bonnie, simply, believed him. His hands felt limp at his sides.

"I have heard of him," Bonnie repeated. "I know his story." A story where he uses a witch for her powers. Where he plays her feelings and abandons her for another woman. Where she locks him up for eternity.

"The hunters," Kol said slowly, "Were created by witches to find him. To feed him the cure. And to kill him."

Bonnie nodded, and he watched her focus as her mind whirled with the implications. This made more sense than a random cure existing and never being mentioned or found before. This made more sense than hunters sent out to hunt vampires and find a cure for no purpose other than curing the remaining vampires they had not hunted and killed (why not hunt and kill them all)?

"Believe it or not," Bonnie said wryly, "I'm not stupid. I can put two and two together." She cleared her throat. "No matter how much they study and use and manipulate witches, they never listen to us. We keep the balance of nature. We would never…" She exhaled harshly, "We would never demand the death of twelve innocents merely to turn vampires – murderers – into humans." Her eyes met Kol's, and when she spoke, it was like she was enchanting him. Fogging his brain. Making him want to trust her, to believe her. "It takes great evil to wake great evil."

Kol swallowed loudly. He blinked at the witch. "Well, that changes everything."

Bonnie's wry smile turned crooked, and Kol felt even more awkward.

"I was going to kill you," he admitted, his lip curling.

Bonnie frowned. "How about we kill Silas instead?"

Kol was speechless.

Bonnie moved forward to tap his chin again, even as her phone began buzzing off the hook in her back pocket. "Your mouth is hanging open," she said.

He grabbed her hand then. _Can't help it_. Placed a tender kiss to the inside of her palm. She flinched, but then cleared her throat and averted her eyes. Like she didn't want him to see that she was afraid. That for one second, she was afraid.

"Can I trust you?" Kol asked her. "This is the world we're talking about. I have no interest in starting the apocalypse. I quite like things as they are."

"If anyone is going to save the world," Bonnie said, pulling her hand from his reach, "It's going to be me."

"But you could destroy it, too," Kol said. He scanned her green eyes. They were hard again. She was hot and cold. She was young, and ridiculously powerful, and she was practicing expression. She couldn't control it. Her temper was a wire switch. Her emotions were bubbling just under the surface.

And right now, he realized from the way her green eyes burned, she was feeling nothing but rage.

"I will destroy myself first," Bonnie said.

Kol smiled. "I believe you."

"_How_ do we do it?" Bonnie asked. "How can we kill him?"

Kol opened and shut his mouth quickly. "I'm not stupid. I'm not going to tell you how to kill him so you can let your friends kill me. As much as I want the world to live, I also would rather not die myself."

Bonnie frowned. Had she not just said _she_ was willing to die to protect the world? What did it matter if _he_ was dead, as long as the end goal was achieved?

As if he read her mind, he added: "I will not let you die, either."

Her phone buzzed in the silence that followed.

"No one can know about this," Bonnie said, extracting her phone and rejecting the call, the name _Elena_ disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

"Not even Jeremy?" Kol asked, eyebrows raised, "You know Damon will kill him, right?"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at the Original. "Yeah, you're going to have to fix that."

Kol scoffed. "Not unless you can un-Hunter him."

Bonnie shook her head. "Elena will be devastated if something happens to Jeremy. Leave him out of this. She's lost enough."

"Hardly," Kol begged to differ. "She hasn't lost you."

_Yet._

A beat.

"Maybe I should talk to her. She may be amenable to our cause," Kol said, thinking out loud.

"You're going to try to kill Jeremy," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot. You have no interest in peace. You're just like every oth-"

"I am _nothing_ like them," Kol snapped, his eyes flashing black. "I would never hurt a witch, let alone put her in harm's way for the sake of a human."

"You tried to kill me," Bonnie deadpanned.

"And yet I am the one whose every bone is struggling to heal," Kol said. Between them, they could still hear fragments of bone snapping back in place. "I have never killed a witch before," Kol said, meeting her eyes. He let her scan them. He watched as her green orbs narrowed and traced every fleck of brown in his. "You would have been my first."

A tick at the corner of his mouth.

"I take it that means killing Silas is as important to you," Bonnie searched his face as she spoke, wanting so badly to believe this story. To believe this Original she had never known. This psychotic, murderous vampire she should not be talking to. This person who treated her like… a person, too. "As protecting Mystic Falls is to me."

"For the moment," Kol said, "Our intentions are aligned."

"Stay away from Jeremy and Elena," Bonnie said. "And we have a deal."

"We're going to kill Silas?"

"I'm going to kill Silas," Bonnie corrected. "And if you don't get yourself murdered before them," she glanced at the white oak stake sticking out of his jacket pocket. He clutched his jacket closed quickly in response, "I'll let you watch."

Kol's lip curled into a wicked smile. "_Watching_ would be my pleasure."

"I'm sure," Bonnie said, glancing around the hallway. Her phone began to buzz again. "You should go."

Kol nodded, preparing to leave, when Bonnie reached out her hand to stop him.

"Ugh," she said in frustration. "You're not exactly trying to keep a low profile, are you?"

"What?"

"You walk around like you own the place," Bonnie said, "You carry around the one weapon that can kill you like you're invincible," she levelled him with a withering glare when he grinned, "when you're _not_."

"What, you want me to…" he glanced around, "Wear a letterman jacket?"

"No," Bonnie's lips went crooked.

"Should I wear a mask?"

"Just…. Blend in!" Bonnie frowned. Her phone buzzed again and she tugged it out of her pocket, pulling her iPod nano out with it. The tiny pink device clunked on the floor, turning on, the hum of an Etta James classic humming from the white headphones. She moved to pick it up, but Kol was quicker.

"What's this?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. He took one headphone and held it up to his ear for two seconds before realizing it slid right in.

"That's actually," Bonnie was ashamed to admit, "A great disguise. No one will talk to you if you're listening to music."

"I'll just be borrowing this then." Kol slipped it into his pocket.

Bonnie smirked. "The color suits you."

Bonnie sighed loudly as her phone began to buzz _again_. "Okay, I need to go. Remember, no one can know about this. No one can know we spoke."

Kol frowned. "Should I be hurt that you're so ashamed of me?"

Bonnie turned and began to walk away, ignoring his closing remarks.

"Just stay out of trouble," Bonnie said flipping her phone open.

"It's Kol," Elena's voice said on the other line, "I think Jeremy should kill him."

Kol's eyes snapped up to meet Bonnie's and she watched, in horror and fascination, as his eyes clouded over and he zipped out of the school.

**Bonnie Bennett**

It was simple.

Klaus wanted hybrids. Damon was obsessed with Elena's _feelings_. Elena wanted the cure because she wanted Damon. Atticus Shane wanted to wake Silas to bring back the dead – dead who, obviously, were dearer to him than any innocent residing in the town.

That left team Stebekah.

But she wasn't lying about finding the cure. And she wasn't lying about being willing to use Jeremy's feelings for her, or to put Shane's life on the line to do it. Because Kol ran with witches for centuries – witches who feared Silas, witches who created hunters to find and kill them.

They had an Original vampire with a baseball bat. They had a Bennett witch.

All that was left was to find the Professor.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: This chapter has been updated. **** Thank you for your reviews and follows. This is more characters than I usually juggle at once, so please bear with me.**

**Two.**

**Rebekah Mikaelson**

Rebekah waited outside the Gilbert house. Stefan and Bonnie had entered without so much as a glance back at the uninvited Original, and she had too much pride to point out that she could not join this rendezvous with her brother.

From her seat on the porch, she tried to zero in on the conversation inside, but was met with more silence. She was so bored she might fall asleep when, suddenly, she heard the thrumming hummingbird heart of a Bennett witch.

It was a lovely rhythm, that. Life. Pumping and vibrant. It was more powerful and erratic now than it once had been.

That's what expression did to you.

And Rebekah would know. She watched many a witch go through the same thing. Did it bother her that she was putting the cure (and thus, her life) in the hands of a witch who did not fully comprehend the power she held? Rebekah supposed it probably should. Or, rather, that it probably _would_ if she didn't know.

Even Atticus Shane didn't _really_ know what he was messing with.

But Rebekah remembered: the shaky, trembling hands; the sudden bursts of temper; the impulses that came with _expression_. And worst of all, the guilt. She remembered the signs, and she remembered how to ease them – or at least, how she had eased them for her mother.

And that gave Rebekah the upper hand.

Which was good, because Rebekah couldn't trust anyone.

_Something was getting little Bonnie Bennett all excited_, Rebekah thought as she swung herself to standing. She turned towards the door just in time to avoid the hurtling body being thrown out of it.

Kol landed roughly on the ground, taking his time to stand. A gash appeared and quickly healed on his bottom lip. He glared into the house.

Bonnie exited afterwards, her hair blowing lightly behind her despite the stillness of the night air. Her heart thrummed so loudly Rebekah could barely make one beat out separate from any other. Her green eyes saw, but didn't see, the world that lay out before her.

"Take it easy," Kol grunted.

"You're right," Bonnie said, walking towards him and clapping her hands together as if she had dirtied them. She gave a pointed look at the crevice in the front yard created by his descent, "Your big head hurt the earth."

Kol's smile appeared more a sneer as he rushed to stand directly in her path as her. Her hips stopped mid-sway on the steps. She raised a brow as she met him, from her position on the porch, eye-to-eye. The words they exchanged were hushed, but they didn't miss the ears of the blonde Original or her ex-lover who came strolling out of the Gilbert house as if nothing was amiss at all.

"This wasn't part of our deal," Kol spat.

"Neither was you trying to kill Jeremy," Bonnie returned as evenly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I didn't try to kill him," Kol reminded her, leaning in even closer. She turned her face to avoid meeting his eyes. "I was merely going to relieve him of his arms. I would have healed him right after."

Rebekah laughed in the same second Stefan scoffed. He wasn't the man he used to be.

Bonnie spoke. "Out of fear of a curse, rather than the goodness of your heart."

"Jeremy and I are close, but not _that_ close," Now his eyes landed on her as if they were trying to decipher something.

Jeremy and Bonnie. There was something there. Something raw. _And oh, how Kol enjoyed poking at a raw, open wound._

"Regardless," Bonnie said with authority, turning to face him again. She pressed a hand lightly against his shoulder like they were dancing as she took the final step down into the front yard, but it was enough to immobilize him, "You stepped out of line first."

"They don't want to kill Silas," Kol said, turning to watch her walk towards her car. "They just want the cure for themselves!"

Bonnie's hips were swaying again. His shoulder tingled where she had touched him. So liberal with her powers, this one.

Rebekah would have to keep an eye on this one, and she sensed, Kol was thinking the same. Stefan, she was sure, was watching her too – though perhaps, not for _quite_ the same reason.

"I need your help, but I can't risk you destroying what I've tried so hard to protect."

"You mean, _who_ you tried to protect," Kol corrected, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. He swaggered towards her, and she stood her ground.

"I'm trying to save Mystic Falls," Bonnie said with gravity.

"And I'm trying to save the world."

"And I'm trying to go to prom," Rebekah pitched in, flashing forward to the quareling duo.

Kol seemed surprised to find her standing so close. He glanced around his other shoulder, and sure enough – there was Stefan. Kol appraised him as if seeing him for the first time – either a thinly veiled insult, or a nod to the intoxicating power that Bonnie Bennett's presence seemed to have. He dismissed him easily, as Rebekah knew he would.

Kol didn't know his teammates. Or his enemies. Which gave Rebekah the upper hand.

"We only want the cure," Stefan said, "Whatever you do to Silas is up to you."

"Be reasonable, brother," Rebekah said, feigning sweetness.

"We don't need them," Kol asserted, ignoring them both.

Rebekah rolled her eyes in response. He was behaving exactly as he did several centuries ago when he had tried to talk them into crashing Magellan's tour de monde.

"You need me," Bonnie said. Her voice lowered, for no one's benefit, as they could all hear perfectly well as she stepped forward and raised a hand to lightly brush dirt from Kol's face. "You said it yourself. You need a Bennett witch to locate Silas."

She slid her hand down his cheek, and caught the edge of her jaw in her fingers as she brushed his lips clean with the swipe of her thumb. His eyes darkened at her touch, but disguised themselves in wicked brown the second Bonnie raised her eyes to meet his. "And I need you."

Kol frowned, but said nothing. He held her gaze, daring her to continue. Rebekah stifled a gag.

"You know more about Silas than any of us," Bonnie said. "I don't know if I can trust Atticus anymore. I need to be able to trust you."

"What does that have to do with my sister?" Kol challenged, nodding at her at last, "And her boy-toy?"

"Rebekah has the dagger," Bonnie said simply. "You have the stake. You'll keep each other in line. They can locate Silas and the cure, while we figure out how to kill Silas."

Kol rolled his eyes, "We could have done that without them."

Bonnie glared at the young Original, "How could we possibly beat two other teams of vampires trying to find the cure when you can't stick to the plan? They would find it, and it would be over-"

"They can't find it without you!" Kol bellowed.

"And I can't kill Silas without you!" Bonnie returned in kind.

He glared at her.

She glared back.

"Every magic mentor I've had has died or been using me. I don't know _how_ to kill Silas. I didn't even," her eyes welled up with angry tears that threatened to spill onto her flushed cheeks, "_know_ about Silas before all of this! You think I like this?" she jabbed him in the chest, and it hurt more than it should: "You think I _like_ being dependent on vampires to dictate my every move? I hate it!" She jabbed him again, "And I especially hate when they think I'm too stupid to figure out what's going on, and do whatever they want anyway!" This time, he caught her finger.

"Fine," Kol said, startling her.

And that was that.

"Fine."

Bonnie moved to take a step back, but Kol held out his hand.

"Shake on it," he insisted.

Bonnie arched a brow, but thought it was a small thing to concede. She took his hand.

He tugged her forward into his arms, easily catching her off guard. He heard Stefan take a protective step forward, but ignored it.

"Kiss on it?"

Rebekah laughed as her brother fell to his knees, cradling his head. Bonnie, and then Stefan, easily walked over his crumpled form.

Rebekah let out a long sigh as she stepped around him, too. "That was thoroughly disgusting."

**Kol Mikaelson**

_An aneurysm never felt so good._

**Stefan Salvatore**

"Rebekah and Stefan," Bonnie dictated as she paced the floor of Rebekah's apartment.

At the sound of his name, Stefan looked up from the grimoire he was pouring through at Rebekah's kitchen table. The writing was difficult for a vampire to read, but fragments came to him. Kol had a huge stack of them – some with crumbling pages – that they were rushing to document. Armed with two iPhones, they were documenting as many spells as they could so Bonnie could more easily study them in the future.

"You two will locate the cure," Bonnie said, pausing to take a sip of the tea Rebekah had prepared for her. When the blonde's eyes fell on her, she offered her a nod in thanks and a tight smile. With the hostess placated, Bonnie continued: "You'll have to get Atticus from the jail, but it shouldn't be too difficult. Damon likely won't be out and about since he's still compelled, and my father will be tied up with my mother and their perpetual drama…"

"Alright," Stefan agreed. He glanced quickly at Rebekah, "We were on our way to doing that anyway."

"We'll have to pretend that we haven't teamed up," Rebekah chimed in. "If Klaus feels threatened by us, he'll attack."

"And we should leave soon," Kol said, snapping another photo on the phone. Stefan's attention turned to Bonnie, who watched, with surprise, at how Kol gently turned the page. "Before they work a way around the compulsion."

Stefan frowned. "Klaus might kill Damon. Damon is worthless, to him, compared to Jeremy."

Kol looked up from his work, but Bonnie interrupted before he could voice his disgust.

"Stefan's right," she said. Kol shot her an annoyed look, but she ignored it.

"Does that mean we should do something about it?" Rebekah said flippantly.

Bonnie looked at Stefan.

"He's my brother," Stefan said simply.

"He's the competition," Kol snapped.

"He does have a cute butt," Rebekah chirped in with amusement.

"He killed your mother," Kol said.

Bonnie glanced at Stefan, who fell quiet for a moment before adding softly: "He was not alone in that."

"True," Kol cut his eyes at the younger Salvatore.

"Kol," Bonnie said, letting out a heavy sigh, "You have to retract the compulsion."

"No."

"Kol," Bonnie frowned.

"No," Kol said. "We are partners in this. You can't tell me what to do."

"Will you," Bonnie said, "please-"

"No."

Bonnie met and held Kol's eyes. Neither said anything. Stefan frowned.

Stefan felt Rebekah's eyes fall on him for a moment, but he refused to meet them. She, too, had lost a brother. Finn. At the hands of his friends. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, and thought, perhaps, he didn't want to know.

"You'll change your mind," Bonnie said.

"I told you not to boss me around," Kol sang out, returning to the grimoire stubbornly.

"I wasn't tell you to," Bonnie said, "I just know you will."

"How do you figure that?" Kol spared her a quick look.

"I have my ways," Bonnie said. Kol glanced at her again, and this time, he thought the ghost of a wicked smile might be dancing at the young Bennett's lips. He let his own wicked smile spread and stay. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms.

"I look forward to discovering each and every one of them," Kol said.

"Not as much as I do," Bonnie threatened.

Stefan cleared his throat.

"Enough of the flirting," Rebekah made a face. She turned to the fridge and extracted blood bags and a wrapped up, leftover hamburger from the Grille. "Dinner," she announced.

Kol smirked, but nodded in acceptance of the food. Rebekah took hers and headed to the bedroom where she would see to the linens and ensure everyone had a spot to sleep.

"Kol and I," Bonnie turned to Stefan, "will figure out a way to kill Silas. If you and Rebekah can shoulder finding him, Kol and I will take care of the rest."

"Do you really need him," Stefan asked, ignoring the glare Kol shot him as he spoke, "Seeing as how we have the Grimoires?"

"Grimoires aren't everything," Bonnie admitted. "Kol knew these witches. He knew their stories, their lives. He'll be able to help me decipher the spells, and find one that will work."

"Basically, she _needs me_," Kol repeated Bonnie's earlier words. She took a long sip of tea to avoid having to comment. Kol's smug, triumphant grin was so odd given the high-tension circumstances, that Bonnie couldn't help the spark of electricity that had her stifling a tentative smile of her own.

Stefan frowned. He wasn't pleased with the quick camaraderie between Bonnie and the Original who, only days before, had tried to kill half of their new team. He still carried the stake, and was still a threat to Rebekah who Stefan had developed a small soft spot for. Her weakness mirrored his brother's – she needed to be loved – and his, she needed to be human. How could he not feel a kinship with her?

Besides, Kol could still panic and decide to keep Silas (and the cure) from them forever by ending Bonnie once and for all. Though she appeared oddly confident that he would not hurt her, and dared to tease the Original with feats of her power, Bonnie's life was still as much at risk as ever.

But she couldn't see that.

It seemed, Bonnie couldn't see past her power recently. From the little she had revealed of their evening, Stefan gathered that she had stormed out on her parents as well. She was so confident that she was preparing to wake and kill a two thousand year old immortal being. She was so single minded that she was preparing to enlist the help of Professor Shane rather than get Jeremy to complete the mark – a man who had killed twelve innocent people.

There was something _off_ about Bonnie – something oddly _not-her _behind those green eyes. It almost bothered him that Rebekah didn't see it. That Kol accepted it in her. But neither of them knew Bonnie like Stefan did. Neither of them had seen what magic had given, and had taken, from her. Neither of them had held her as she cried.

But that wasn't the Bonnie he looked at now.

Bonnie's fingers curled against the cold granite of the countertop as she traded words back and forth with Kol again. She barely noticed when Kol set the phone down and the innuendos started pouring from his lips. She barely noticed when she, herself, grinned wickedly, and played right back. She barely noticed as Stefan took his blood bag from the counter and headed towards the living room, where he found Rebekah making up a bed for the young witch on the couch.

**Kol Mikaelson**

Kol Mikaelson was perhaps a bit too interested in the way Bonnie Bennett slept.

She snored.

She sprawled out half on, half off the couch.

From his vantage point laid out on a spare comforter on the cold tiles of the kitchen (they would have to see about better accommodation), he could see her clearly. Including the trail of drool sliding from the corner of her mouth.

How she could sleep so soundly – so dead to the world – was beyond him.

They had things to do. Plans to make. Silas to kill.

His hands were already itching to go.

He wasn't even alive, and he could almost feel his heart pounding out of his chest and ready to go

But not Bonnie.

She slept so sweetly you'd think she wasn't in danger at all.

You'd think she wasn't the only human in the heart of an apartment filled with vampires.

**Bonnie Bennett**

For the first time in a long time, Bonnie's conscience was clear. Though she was facing the biggest challenge she had come across yet as a witch, she felt _in control_ of her decision.

Bonnie Bennett was on a mission. She had a plan. She had a goal. And for the first time, it wasn't being set and dictated by vampires.

It had been laid out by Quetsiyah, another witch – heck, a goddess! – centuries before. Bonnie was simply fulfilling the role Ayanna's descendant was meant to play. Bonnie was determined to complete this mission and, in doing so, complete Quetsiyah's.

She would end Silas.

She would do what no other witch had done.

And she would do it without the help or hindrance of her ancestors on the other side, so eager to possess her body or torture her Grams whenever they felt like it.

She was _done being pushed around by all of them_.

And here, in this little apartment with three vampires, a stack of grimoires, and a plan – is where it would all begin.


End file.
